Pete Carroll revealing this week cornerback Richard Sherman had a knee injury during this past season that the Seahawks did not put on league-required practice and injury reports reportedly could cost the team a second-round draft choice. David GoldmanAP

Pete Carroll revealing this week cornerback Richard Sherman had a knee injury during this past season that the Seahawks did not put on league-required practice and injury reports reportedly could cost the team a second-round draft choice. David GoldmanAP

The NFL may be showing it is beyond tired of investigating the Seahawks, for the fourth time in six years.

This time it’s for not reporting Richard Sherman’s knee injury during this past season. ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported on Thursday the league is considering taking away Seattle’s second-round choice in April’s draft for that violation.

The @Seahawks could lose 2nd round pick as NFL considers penalties for failure to disclose Richard Sherman's knee injury. More on @ESPNNFL

Draft choices are huge commodities to every team, especially to Seahawks general manager John Schneider and his personnel staff. They have stockpiled them to build their young, championship core over the last six years, and used them to trade for players such as tight end Jimmy Graham. Second-round picks are usually considered ready or nearly ready to start in the NFL.

Recent Seattle second rounders include defensive end Frank Clark -- who had 10 sacks in 2016, his second season -- emerging wide receiver Paul Richardson and middle linebacker Bobby Wagner. Wagner is now an All-Pro and perennial Pro Bowl selection.

"Honestly, I didn't realize we hadn't revealed it,” Caraoll said Monday, hours after he told Seattle’s 710-AM radio his Pro Bowl cornerback played the final month-plus with the injury the Seahawks never put on a daily practice report or weekly game injury report. “I don't even remember what game it was, it was somewhere in the middle ... I don't know.

“He was fine about it. He didn't miss anything. The same with Russell (Wilson and his sprained MCL, which the team did report), he was fine about it. I don't know how they do that, but they did."

Sherman not missing a game because of the injury is likely going to be the Seahawks’ main defense with the league in asking for leniency in any punishment.

Mortensen reported the team is cooperating with the NFL’s review of the situation. He added “lots is on the table, including more fines.”

Sherman routinely missed a practice each week over the last month-plus of the regular season and the postseason that ended with Saturday’s loss at Atlanta with what the team listed as “NIR.” That stands for “not injury related.”

I asked Carroll on Monday at his season-ending press conference why Sherman’s injury never showed up on a practice report.

"I don't know. I'm feeling like I screwed that up with not telling you that because that happened, but he was OK,” Carroll said.

About the Seahawks Insider Blog

Gregg Bell joined The News Tribune in July 2014. Bell had been the director of writing for the University of Washington's athletic department for four years. He was the senior national sports writer in Seattle for The Associated Press from 2005-10, covering the Seahawks in their first Super Bowl season and beyond. He's also been The Sacramento Bee's beat writer on the Oakland Athletics and Raiders. The native of Steubenville, Ohio, is a 1993 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and a 2000 graduate of the University of California, Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism.